Galaxy Express 999 is inspired by kenji's 'Night on the Galactic Railroad'

In my generation almost elementary students in Japan were taught one of the most famous Japanese poet whose name is Kenji MIYAZAWA.

It is my pleasure to introduce him to audience all over the world. Please check out the Wikipedia, first.

a novel by Kenji Miyazawa

Night on the Galactic Railroad (銀河鉄道の夜 Ginga Tetsudō no Yoru), sometimes translated as Milky Way Railroad, Night Train to the Stars, or Fantasy Railroad In The Stars, is a classic Japanese novel by Kenji Miyazawa written around 1927. The nine-chapter novel was posthumously published in 1934 as part of Complete Works of Kenji Miyazawa Vol. 3 (『宮沢賢治全集』第三巻) published by Bunpodō (文圃堂). Four versions are known to be in existence, with the last one being the most famous among Japanese readers.    ........by Wikipedia

a manga by Leiji Matsumoto

Galaxy Express 999 (銀河鉄道999 Ginga Tetsudō Surī Nain) is a manga written and drawn by Leiji Matsumoto, as well as various anime films and TV series based on it. It is set in a space-faring, high-tech future in which humans have learned how to transfer their minds (but not their emotions) into mechanical bodies, thus achieving practical immortality.The manga won the Shogakukan Manga Award for shōnen in 1978.The anime series won the Animage Anime Grand Prix prize in 1981. The number, "999", in the title is pronounced "Three-Nines", as opposed to "Nine-Nine-Nine", "Nine Ninety Nine or "Nine Hundred Ninety Nine".Matsumoto was inspired to create Galaxy Express 999 by the idea of a steam train running through the stars in the novel Night on the Galactic Railroad by Kenji Miyazawa.       .......by Wikipedia